Goldsmiths, University of London

Goldsmiths is a research university at New Cross in south-east London, known for art, design, music, media and computing alongside the social sciences. The question that decides a Goldsmiths application is whether the intended course requires a portfolio or an audition, because that changes everything else about it. Creative programmes at British universities commonly assess submitted work rather than grades alone, and where they do, the submission usually carries more weight than the academic record, the deadline often falls earlier than the UCAS one, and the format is set by department. For an applicant who cannot travel, the decisive practical question is whether portfolios can be submitted digitally and auditions held remotely. Settle that before anything else. Every University of London institution awards its own degrees and admits independently. King's, UCL, LSE, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, SOAS, Goldsmiths, Birkbeck, City St George's and Brunel are all members of the federation, and naming two of them on a UCAS form uses two of the five choices.